LEC Reefs
LightNews LightNews
banner
lec-reefs.bsky.social
LEC Reefs
@lec-reefs.bsky.social
5.5K followers 470 following 27 posts
Research group @ Lancaster Environment Centre, UK. We study coral reefs, fisheries, aquatic foods, environmental justice, animal behaviour, ecology, and climate change. 🐠 🐟 🎣 🪸

https://lec-reefs.org/
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
lec-reefs.bsky.social
LEC Reefs @lec-reefs.bsky.social · Dec 9
You can keep up with the whole LEC REEFS gang via our starter pack! 🐟🪸🎣🏝️

go.bsky.app/3m4FFzH

🦑🧪🌍
lec-reefs.bsky.social
New paper on coral reef restoration and recovery by @timlamont.bsky.social et al:

doi.org/10.1111/gcb.... 🪸
November 11, 2025 at 9:50 AM
lec-reefs.bsky.social
New PhD project available here at @lancasteruni.bsky.social!

Come and research coral reefs, MPAs, and climate impacts 🪸

www.exageo.org/phd-student-...
November 11, 2025 at 9:48 AM
Reposted by LEC Reefs
james-robinson.bsky.social
We're #hiring a new #PhD student - come join @lec-reefs.bsky.social to investigate coral reefs, MPAs, and climate impacts. 🌊 🧪🦑

Details + apply here - www.exageo.org/phd-student-...

Deadline Jan 9th! International applicants encouraged 👍
November 10, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Reposted by LEC Reefs
lec-reefs.bsky.social
You can keep up with the whole LEC REEFS gang via our starter pack! 🐟🪸🎣🏝️

go.bsky.app/3m4FFzH

🦑🧪🌍
December 9, 2024 at 10:40 AM
lec-reefs.bsky.social
Two new post-doc positions in our team here at Lancaster! 👇
timlamont.bsky.social Tim Lamont @timlamont.bsky.social · 15d
We're hiring! 🥳 Come and join our team in Lancaster - we're looking for two senior postdocs to work on corporate sustainability and restoration ecology. 🌳 🪸 ♻️ (1 of 2)
@lec-reefs.bsky.social @pentlandcentre.bsky.social @sci-tech-lancaster.bsky.social @lancasteruni.bsky.social
November 5, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Reposted by LEC Reefs
timlamont.bsky.social
We're hiring! 🥳 Come and join our team in Lancaster - we're looking for two senior postdocs to work on corporate sustainability and restoration ecology. 🌳 🪸 ♻️ (1 of 2)
@lec-reefs.bsky.social @pentlandcentre.bsky.social @sci-tech-lancaster.bsky.social @lancasteruni.bsky.social
November 5, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Reposted by LEC Reefs
ruthedunn.bsky.social
New in @natrevbiodiv.nature.com: our review of the influence of #seabirds, via their nutrient transfer, on islands & adjacent marine ecosystems 🐦🏝️🪸

We highlight knowledge gaps & future directions ✨

"The circular seabird economy is critical for oceans, islands and people": doi.org/10.1038/s443...
Schematic diagram of the influence of seabirds on temperate and tropical near-shore marine systems. Temperatre systems: - Nutrient enrichment and predation on herbivorous invertebrates can lead to increased algal production - Phytoplankton communities change, featuring more large-celled species - Intertidal organisms incorporate seabird-enriched material by grazing on detritus and biofilm in tidepools - Macroalgae biodiversity and primary production are boosted Tropical systems: - Mangrove leaf nutritional quality increases - Corals recover faster after bleaching events - Fish biomass increases across different trophic groups - Pelagic and benthic consumers' foraging behaviour shifts - Parrotfish grazing and bioerosion rates increase - Fish grow larger
October 27, 2025 at 7:49 AM
Reposted by LEC Reefs
oceana.bsky.social
A new study reveals that although they are often overlooked, dried fish are critical to helping feed millions of people across Africa.

Read more: https://bit.ly/4nItEIj

@lancasteruni.bsky.social
September 23, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Reposted by LEC Reefs
timlamont.bsky.social
Starting a new job felt like a good time to join the BlueSky party! 🙌🦋

Excited to be starting a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship - look out for job ads soon on ecosystem restoration 🪸🌴🐠, business sustainability ♻️ and corporate accounting 🧮📊. Exciting plans ahead!

www.lancaster.ac.uk/news/lancast...
Lancaster’s world-class researchers will turn bold ideas into innovations to improve lives - Lancaster University
Three Lancaster University researchers have been awarded Future Leaders Fellowships, through a flagship scheme by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
www.lancaster.ac.uk
October 14, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Reposted by LEC Reefs
salkeith.bsky.social
@ruchakarkarey.bsky.social is in Vogue India! Great article about India's women marine defenders www.vogue.in/content/once...
Indian women used to be afraid of the ocean. Now, they’re turning into its strongest defenders
Along India’s coastline, a rising wave of women is healing our oceans, moving beyond the margins of shore-bound roles traditionally ascribed to them
www.vogue.in
October 16, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Reposted by LEC Reefs
lancasteruni.bsky.social
Sun-dried and smoked fish are the overlooked yet vital nutrient-packed superfood providing much needed nutrition across tropical Africa, according to a new study 🐠

📰: https://tinyurl.com/yveejt7u

📸: Christina Hicks, Tane Sinclair-Taylor, James Robinson

@lec-reefs.bsky.social
September 23, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Reposted by LEC Reefs
salkeith.bsky.social
Cool article on our PhD student Annabell Klinke's research, asking are fish less smart on less structurally complex reefs? womenlovetech.com/world-first-... @lec-reefs.bsky.social
Will Coral Reef Collapse Make Fish Less Intelligent?
Marine biologist Annabell reveals how coral reef collapse could affect fish intelligence, with insights on what reef degradation means for underwater life.
womenlovetech.com
September 24, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Reposted by LEC Reefs
salkeith.bsky.social
PAPER hints at ecological traps for damselfish settlement - dead corals chosen for settlement if an adult is present, could cascade to bad ends! besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... Led by @lisabe.bsky.social @lec-reefs.bsky.social @animalecology.bsky.social
Density dependent habitat selection in response to habitat loss in a coral reef fish
Habitat loss triggers a social chain reaction: adult reef fish crowd onto remaining coral, then spill over onto dead coral—and juveniles follow. This study reveals a novel, socially driven ‘bandwagon...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
September 22, 2025 at 8:51 AM
Reposted by LEC Reefs
salkeith.bsky.social
Field of view affects damselfish anti-predator responses BUT other metrics of structural complexity do not. Implications for how we measure structure & predict its effects academic.oup.com/beheco/advan...
@jamesboon.bsky.social is on fire today! @lec-reefs.bsky.social @envisiondtp.bsky.social
Site-level variation in field of view is associated with altered anti-predator responses in farming damselfish
The structure of a habitat affects how animals respond to predators. By recording the anti-predator behaviour of reef fish at sites with different levels o
academic.oup.com
September 15, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Reposted by LEC Reefs
salkeith.bsky.social
New PAPER shows greater depths NOT correlated with more stable communities on Caribbean reefs, contrary to expectations. Led by @jamesboon.bsky.social link.springer.com/article/10.1... @lec-reefs.bsky.social @envisiondtp.bsky.social @opwallscience.bsky.social
Deeper Caribbean reef fish communities show greater taxonomic and functional change in dominance structure over a nine-year period - Coral Reefs
Fish communities at greater depths on a reef are thought to be less affected by disturbances that more strongly impact shallower areas. As a result, these deeper communities might be expected to show ...
link.springer.com
September 15, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Reposted by LEC Reefs
sheppardcat.bsky.social
Third paper from my PhD at @lancasteruni.bsky.social out now. Territorial farming damselfish are more aggressive to smaller neighbours than strangers @envisiondtp.bsky.social #fishinbottles #angrydamsels #nastyneighbours

link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Familiarity mediated by body size predicts intraspecific aggression in farming damselfishes - Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
Abstract Aggressive territoriality can have significant benefits for resource acquisition yet is a costly behaviour. Selection should therefore favour mechanisms that allow individuals to modify their...
link.springer.com
September 4, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Reposted by LEC Reefs
salkeith.bsky.social
PAPER: Territorial damselfish are more aggressive to neighbours if their neighbour is larger, but this weakens If they don't know each other link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Led by my awesome former PhD student @sheppardcat.bsky.social @lec-reefs.bsky.social @envisiondtp.bsky.social #FishInBottles
Familiarity mediated by body size predicts intraspecific aggression in farming damselfishes - Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
Abstract Aggressive territoriality can have significant benefits for resource acquisition yet is a costly behaviour. Selection should therefore favour mechanisms that allow individuals to modify their...
link.springer.com
September 4, 2025 at 9:18 AM
Reposted by LEC Reefs
fmc1.bsky.social
This essay reflects on my experience traveling for research across West Africa. “As a West African seeking to move freely within my own region, I was subjected to extortion, while non-Africans enjoyed the very freedom that should inherently be ours”. @ecowas.bsky.social
rpublc.com/august-septe...
The Hidden Cost of Travelling Around West Africa
As a West African seeking to move freely within my own region, I was subjected to extortion, while non-Africans enjoyed the very freedom that should inherently be ours.
rpublc.com
August 11, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Reposted by LEC Reefs
ruthedunn.bsky.social
"Commuting in crosswinds and foraging in fast winds: the foraging ecology of a flying fish specialist" 💨🐦🐟

New @iomarinescience.bsky.social research out now in @royalsocietypublishing.org: doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

📸 @robinfreeman.bsky.social

🧪🌍🪶
Composite image of the Proceedings B journal title, the manuscript title and the author list, alongside an image of a red-footed booby flying amongst palm trees. Some text reads: "Winds shape the behavioural decisions of red-footed boobies, impacting their foraging commutes and feeding behaviour".
August 6, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Reposted by LEC Reefs
lancasteruni.bsky.social
Using lightweight bird-borne cameras, scientists have captured unique footage of Indian Ocean seabirds speeding just above the waves to catch flying fish.

Dr Ruth Dunn (@ruthedunn.bsky.social) of @lec-reefs.bsky.social is lead author of the study.

📰: https://tinyurl.com/yezeyxu2
August 6, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Reposted by LEC Reefs
salkeith.bsky.social
Important article on dealing with grief & anxiety in environmental science, with lots of input from Tim Lamont @lec-reefs.bsky.social cosmosmagazine.com/people/socia... includes tips on coping with climate distress
Great Barrier Grief: scientists face mental health battle
Tim Lamont was surveying the coral reefs off Lizard Island in Far North Queensland as part of his PhD in coral reef ecology when he first felt his mood start
cosmosmagazine.com
August 1, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Reposted by LEC Reefs
james-robinson.bsky.social
How did farmed salmon take over? We explored how big industry and retail shape consumer perceptions, putting UK salmon top of the Big 5

So what? Market-making helps #salmon to expand, raising environmental impacts and squeezing out other #seafood from UK diets 🦑

doi.org/10.1088/1748...
July 31, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Reposted by LEC Reefs
lancasteruni.bsky.social
How can beauty be measured? Find out how a team of marine scientists have devised a way to measure the beauty of coral reefs in order to aid restoration and sustainable tourism practices in this new article, co-authored by Dr Tim Lamont of @lec-reefs.bsky.social for @uk.theconversation.com 👇
The beauty of coral reefs is key to their survival – so we came up with a way to measure it
Researchers found that photos of restored reefs were rated just as beautiful as those of healthy reefs.
theconversation.com
July 23, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Reposted by LEC Reefs
ruchakarkarey.bsky.social
Thrilled to be part of this new paper led by Mayukh Dey & Nature Conservation Foundation, summarizing 25 yrs of 🪸 reef resilience monitoring in Lakshadweep 🏝️ 🇮🇳

We find distinct recovery archetypes shaped by atoll location & coral assemblages

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
July 17, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Reposted by LEC Reefs
netlab.bsky.social
#Angelsharks may be more vulnerable to #ClimateChange than we thought!

Out today in @globalchangebio.bsky.social:
doi.org/10.1111/gcb....

@lancasteruni.bsky.social @zslofficial.bsky.social @ulpgc.es @qmul.bsky.social @leibniz-gemeinschaft.de @lec-reefs.bsky.social

📸 @nuno_vasco_rodrigues
@sharkconservationfund @canbiocanarias @saveourseasfoundation @oceantrackingnetwork @wwfnederland @nercscience @deutsche_elasmobrancier_ges
July 17, 2025 at 1:51 PM